Polar bears, bees, badgers and muesli - as well as water that isn’t wet - were some of the more surprising features of a varied event that celebrated the role of formulation science and technology and recognised the work of practitioners and educators of formulation. A packed IPI conference room at the University of Bradford greeted the keynote speakers and the nominees for awards at the “Wonderful World of Formulation” on September 13^th. The celebratory meeting was one of the many varied events held at the University during the prestigious annual British Science Festival (organised by the British Science Association) from September 10^th – 15^th. Photographs from the event can be found on http://bit.ly/okmyPj and copies of speaker presentations will appear shortly in this space and on www.intelligentformulation.org.

After an introduction from Dr Rob Jackson, coordinator of chemistry events for the Festival, event co-organiser Dr Jim Bullock of Intelligent Formulation Ltd set the scene for the day with a short presentation which highlighted the value of formulation science and technology to the UK economy, the role of formulating companies in employment and innovation and the world-leading capabilities of the UK’s universities and industrial R&D.

A belated breakfast, followed by  polar bears...

Keynote speaker Dr Ian Jolliffe of Reckitt Benckiser then led the audience on a wide ranging journey. Ian reminded us how many formulated products we had used already that day and then used his breakfast muesli and eggs as an entertaining analogy to explain the role of formulation in developing safe and effective medicines. Ian also described how formulation can be a differentiator which adds performance and value to over-the-counter pharmaceutical products.

The second keynote speaker, Dr Elizabeth Alam of P&G put her passion for formulation into the context of her family life and a varied international career. Elizabeth’s journey was an equally varied one. We learned how the formulation of laundry detergents has to take into account the huge variation from country to country in how we use these products and how better formulation has helped the drive to wash at lower temperatures and cut carbon emissions (which is of course good for polar bears).

Shiny glasses, brick dust and formulation science on the BBC...

After the break, some attendees chose to have a tour of some of the laboratories in Bradford’s IPI (Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation) building, where instruments used for measuring the properties of formulated products were demonstrated – using chocolate as an example. The remainder of the attendees stayed in the conference room where over the rest of the day they were able to hear from the nominees for the inaugural Formulation Awards. These “short and snappy” talks covered a wide variety of scientific and industrial topics and everyone learned a lot in a short space of time.

First up it was P&G again and Dr Euan Magennis (representing the work of his colleague Emma Watson) showed how an understanding of what makes glassware shiny (or not shiny – it’s all to do with crystals in the film on the glass surface) could be used to improve the formulation of an automatic dishwashing product. Following this, Ian Siragher from Agenda 1 described how a small company could also apply science to the choice of formulation additives which are used to enhance the solubility of pharmaceuticals. Low solubility compounds (memorably called “brick dust”) present one of the industry’s most significant formulation challenges.

Moving on to the theme of communication and education in formulation, Dr Laura Waters of the University of Huddersfield impressed the audience with her story of how she managed to get formulation science onto national BBC television. She gave us the behind the scenes story of her demonstration of cosmetic formulation using natural lanolin seen in an episode of “Kill it, cut it, use it” presented by Julia Bradbury earlier this year. Staying with education, Prof Adrian Williams of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading took us through an innovative “problem-based learning” programme. This enables teams of Masters students at the School of Pharmacy to develop an understanding of the role of formulation and dosage design and also helps develops other transferable skills such as team working, time management and communication.

Turning water into a powder and tyres into a wood substitute - and how to avoid culling badgers...

In the afternoon session the nominee presentations continued with a fascinating example from Professor Bernie Binks of the University of Hull. Understanding how emulsions can be stabilised by particles at the interface between the dispersed droplet and the continuous phase enables the formulator to design more complex and more stable formulations. Taking this idea further enables “dry water” to be produced, where water droplets are surrounded by a layer of solid particles which results in a dry powder that contains 95% water. Particles of a very different kind were the subject of the next presentation by Dr Brian Sulaiman of Dena Technologies who gave an impressive demonstration of how high performance materials can be produced from waste material. Using proprietary processing equipment is used to turn old car tyres into micron-sized or nano-sized particles. These are then incorporated into recycled thermoplastic to produce composites which can be used in construction used instead of unsustainable tropical hardwood.

Vaccines are notoriously difficult to deliver orally, and Prof Yvonne Perrie of Aston University (in collaboration with Variation Biotechnologies) described how liposomes can be used as a delivery vehicle. In liposome based formulations vaccines can be protected and examples were given for human influenza as well as for bovine tuberculosis – the latter example provides a possible way for badgers to be vaccinated against TB and hence avoid the need for culling. Moving on from mammals to insects the next speaker was Prof Anant Paradkar of the University of Bradford’s Centre for Pharmaceutical Engineering Science (in collaboration with Nature’s Laboratory). Beehives contain a material, propolis, which has many potential health benefits but is difficult to extract and formulate. However, the Bradford team has however been able to formulate propolis into a water soluble form (for food additives) and into patches (for mouth ulcer treatment). The problem of hospital acquired infections such as C.difficile has never been far from the headlines recently and Dr Ashvin Patel of Kuecept (working in collaboration with MGB Biopharma) described a new approach. Using Kuecept’s ProRelease technology based on drug-containing microparticles some very promising studies have shown how this could be the basis of a treatment for C.difficile for susceptible patients.

Here comes the sun...free of dust

Moving away from healthcare, Dr Sasha Heriot of Chamelic described how the problem of dust deposition on the mirrors used in industrial scale solar power installations can dramatically reduce their efficiency. Fortunately Chamelic’s polymeric additive can be used to provide a dust-repellent layer for these mirrors and now the main challenge of producing a water based formulation has been overcome the commercial potential of this additive is expected to be realised. The role of formulation in industry is about getting the most out of the ingredients you have, rather than inventing new ingredients and in the final nominee presentation of the day, Andrew Elphick of Iota Nanosolutions described how ContraSol technology can be used to “build” formulations of nanoparticles of an active ingredient embedded in a very soluble matrix. This technology enables formulations with improved efficacy and bioavailability to be produced, which is very important in squeezing optimal performance out of pharmaceutical and agrochemical active ingredients.

Finally, celebrating some well earned successes

A successful day finished with the presentation of the inaugural Formulation Awards:

·         The Award for Formulation in Industry – sponsored by Syngenta – was awarded to Emma Watson of P&G and presented by Dr Julie McDonald of Syngenta to Emma’s colleague Dr Euan Magennis.

·         The Award for Education and Skills in Formulation – sponsored by Intelligent Formulation – was awarded to Dr Laura Waters of the University of Huddersfield and presented by Dr Jim Bullock of Intelligent Formulation.

·         The Award for Sustainability in Formulation – sponsored by the RSC’s Formulation Science and Technology Group (FSTG) – was awarded to Dr Brian Sulaiman of Dena Technologies and presented by FSTG Chairman Dr David Higgins.

·         The Award for Collaboration in Formulation – sponsored by the University of Birmingham, School of Chemical Engineering – was awarded to Prof Yvonne Perrie of Aston University (in collaboration with Variation Biotechnologies) and presented by Dr Jim Bullock of Intelligent Formulation.

·         The Award for Knowledge Transfer in Formulation – sponsored by Chemistry Innovation KTN – was awarded to Andrew Elphick of Iota Nanosolutions and presented by Darren Ragheb of Chemistry Innovation KTN.

Photographs from the event can be found on http://bit.ly/okmyPj and copies of speaker presentations will appear shortly in this space and on www.intelligentformulation.org. Intelligent Formulation would like to thank the following for their assistance in the organisation of the event:

·         Dr Rob Jackson and the British Science Festival team

·         Dr Ian Scowen and Dr Tasnim Munshi and their colleagues from the University of Bradford

·         The Award sponsors Syngenta, RSC FSTG, University of Birmingham and Chemistry Innovation KTN

·         The keynote speakers from Reckitt Benckiser and P&G

Note on Intelligent Formulation:

Intelligent Formulation Limited is a not for profit company which specialises in helping companies to innovate better in formulation. The experience and expertise of Intelligent Formulation’s board and its operational team together provide a powerful resource to help our Partner companies. See www.intelligentformulation.org for more details or if you have a question send an e-mail to info@intelligentformulation.org.

Together with our partners at ParticlesCIC we are delighted to be holding an exciting new Course entitled "Fundamentals of Formulation Science and Technology" to be held at the University of Leeds from 31st October to 2nd November. Full details will be available in the next couple of days but see below for an overview. For expressions of interest in attending please e-mail info@intelligentformulation.org with the subject line "Fundamentals of Formulation Science and Technology".

Fees: 3 day course £995+VAT. Concessions for "early bird" registration and for Intelligent Formulation Partners

Fundamentals of Formulation Science and Technology is a new short course which will provide attendees with a broad overview of the fundamentals of formulation. The course is targeted towards industry personnel and academic researchers who are working in formulation or would like to familiarise themselves in this field. The course is organised by Intelligent Formulation Limited and ParticlesCIC and course tutors will be industrial and academic experts with a distinguished record in practical industrial applications of formulation science and technology.

Fundamentals of Formulation Science and Technology will ensure a good basic grounding in the underpinning science of formulation and will move on concentrate on the applications of this knowledge and the tools available to the practising scientist. The course will include discussion sessions as well as lab tours and demonstrations.There will also be a course dinner to enable networking between participants and others.

Who Should Attend?
* Newcomers to formulation teams (at all levels) within company R&D.
* More experienced laboratory technicians who require a deeper understanding of the underpinning science and technology of formulation.
* Academics and students who would value an overview of industrial formulation issues
* R&D scientists from all disciplines who are less familiar with formulation science and require an introductions

Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, attendees will have a good basic understanding of:
* Colloid and interface science
* The main types of formulated products and the importance of their microstructure
* How to make particulate products
* The choice and function of the main ingredients used in formulated products
* The main processing methods used for formulated products and their key features at laboratory and production scale
* The use of analytical and characterisation methods for formulated products
* The use of other supporting techniques

Speaker details for this event are now almost fully complete and we will post here a series of brief articles introducing them. Below are is the second of such details available.

Fraser Courts studied and undertook research at the University of Leeds and from there has moved to the HONEI (Humber Obesity, Nutrition, Education and Innovation) project at the University of Hull, where he is actively working with industry in the functional food and related areas. He has also worked in the food industry in NPD and as a process technologist.

Fraser was the post-graduate winner of the Institute of Food Scientists (IFST) and Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Food Commodities & Ingredients Group North of England Young Scientists Competition in 2009. His research has been in the area of polyphenols and he will provide a presentation on their role in health related personal care products.

Speaker details for this event are now almost fully complete and we will post here a series of brief articles introducing them. Below are is the second of such details available.

Dr Ian Scoular has more than 20 years marketing and business development expertise. He has been responsible for identifying, assessing, structuring and negotiating many different types of commercial agreements. Ian started his industry career at Reckitt & Colman Pharmaceutical Division in Hull.

Mankind has for centuries relied on plants as a valuable source of therapeutic agents to treat disease and maintain good health. Using traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) as a discovery engine and starting point, Phynova develops patent-protected pharmaceuticals, OTC drugs, cosmetic and functional ingredients.  Ian will provide a presentation on how the East can meet the West’s needs for new, novel & natural personal care products. 

See http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ian-scoular/14/39a/145 for more details on Dr Ian Scoular

 See /www.phynova.com/ for Company details and for details of Dr Ian Scoular see http://www.phynova.com/Company_Information-Team.asp 

Speaker details for this event are now almost fully complete and we will post here a series of brief articles introducing them.  Below are the first details available.

Prof Keith Coupland is an Independent Research Consultant working for many companies both large and small.  He is also Director of the Centre for Lipid Research in the School of Chemistry at the University of Hull as well as a visiting Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of York.  Keith works in the area of natural product chemistry. 

Keith will provide a presentation on ‘Stearidonic Acid from Novel Sources’. Stearidonic Acid, or SDA, is a plant produced Omega-3 PUFA oil, so a natural ingredient with many functional uses.

 See http://www.linkedin.com/pub/keith-coupland/19/a98/684 for more details on Prof Keith Coupland.

 See http://www2.hull.ac.uk/science/chemistry/staff/emeritus-and-retired-staff/keith-coupland.aspx for University of Hull details of Prof Keith Coupland.

See http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=198731 for a Press Release on "Solution for 1.2 Million Heart Attack Victims Left Unprotected by NICE Guidelines."

I set myself the deadline of 1st September to get the plans for the next Personal Care Programme (PCP) meeting in place and start promotion and have made that first deadline!

So, title of the meeting is "New, Novel & Natural" in the area of personal care products research and production.  The venue had to be something very accessible by car or train, and a good venue too, which I am certain we've managed: The meeting will be held at the 5 Star Cedar Court Grand Hotel in York. 

This is but a very short walk indeed from the railway station and several car parks are nearby, including an NCP one not many metres away.  York has excellent rail links to the North, South, East & West, so that seemed to fit the bill.  York can be accessed from London in just 1 hour 52 minutes Edinburgh in 2 hours 35 minutes, Manchester airport direct in 1 hour 50 minutes, Birmingham in 2 hours 16 minutes and Hull in 1 hour 14 minutes.  We envisage people attending from all across the UK and perhaps even beyond therefore.

A 5 Star Networking Opportunity too!

We have a good line up of speakers - but more on them later in a specific post.  More here about the networking side of the meeting.  Many events promote themselves as a good networking opportunity, but often that opportunity just passes most attendees by.  For this 12th October event we have taken the best of the many, many networking events we attend and will make networking happen better than ever for the attendees. 

In networking it is good to meet people you know but better still to meet people you don't know already.  In networking it is good to chat over 'How's business?' but better still to discuss new business opportunities.  The venue is important for networking and the Cedar Court Grand was built in 1902 as head office of the railways, renovated to a hotel in 2010 and in April this year won the prestigious Yorkshire Tourism 'Hotel of the Year'.  It is historically and more recently therefore a hub at the centre of business meetings.  The Board Room and Chairmans Suite in use for this meeting were built for business and provide still an excellent environment for todays business.

The PCP meeting will feature 'One Slide Presentations' by several attendees to foster networking too.  In these, attendees will be able to provide a focussed short presentation supported by just one slide.  This will be the who, why and what from a number of attendees.  To ensure they make the most of the moment training advice is given and presenters are asked to be specific - what are the two things they are looking for today?

Each small batch of 'One Slide Presentations' will then be followed by a time when people can move to an area to interact more with that individual and ask more specific questions, swap business cards and start that move from networking to collaboration and business.

We will also have a few Company Sponsors who will have a small stand in the refreshments area and who will be vital contacts to make for your personal care business.  If you would like to enquire about taking up one of these stand positions then please contact Graham.Clayton@IntelligentFormulation.org

What will it cost?

Probably better to ask what will you save as a result of attending or what new business will you develop, but I know everyone needs to know the price of attending.  We think it is important that attendees can justify the cost of coming - both in terms of their time and the financial aspects.  Hence, we have priced the event according to the venue, the level of interaction and the level of information provided from our presenters. 

The price for the day is £200 + VAT and this includes coffees/teas, lunch, free wifi and an opportunity to present a 'One Slide Presentation'.

For exhibitors the price is £350 + VAT and this includes one person's admission to the whole event as well as a stand space with standard mains supply. 

Academic attendees can take advantage of the reduced rate from £200 + VAT down to £135 + VAT.

Members of our Intelligent Formulation Partnership are entitled to free attendance or a 20% reduction, depending on their level of Partnership.  Current PCP Members attend this event free of charge, and YCF Netwwork members are entitled to a 20% discount.

To register your place then email Graham.Clayton@IntelligentFormulation.org or Zoe@YCF.org.uk or contact us on +44 (0) 1484 346 541

Firstly to pick up an item from the day 1 blog where I said how good the partnering sessions were with all my meetings taking place except one, which was arranged very late on anyway.  Well, on Day two I met the person from the missed meeting.  They located me and we had a good and useful discussion over lunch.  That makes a 100% success rate on meetings which is something I have never experienced before.  Others I know weren’t as fortunate BUT even they said they had well over 50% of their planned meetings actually go ahead.

Perhaps a bit more technical and scientific on todays’ blog of the event. 

Over the two days I have attended talks on “Initiating the Innovation Process: How to succeed on the route from the idea to market in 2011”; “What are the 2011 European consumers’ different and common behaviours?”; “Innovation Process: Extraction & Initial Characterisation”; “Innovation Process: Pre-clinical validation (gut health & immune system)”; “Innovation Process: Formulation & Stability”.  Each session had 3 or 4 speakers from: The Food Nutrition Delta, University of Maastrict, TIFN, Roquette, EUFIC, Focus Business Communication, University of Surrey, Ghent University, Analyse & Realize, Frutarom, Naturex, CEBAS-CSIC, Tate & Lyle, TNO, NIZO, Adipophyt, Unilever, Cargill.

That’s some list from 2 days of time and a good range of areas covered by just what I actually attended.  I hope some of the company names are familiar and some totally unknown to you.  That’s as it should be too – conferences & exhibitions hit a real low for me when you don’t meet anyone new.  Good as it is to meet old friends and get updates on their work you are already familiar with, it does not lead as rapidly into new areas as meeting and hearing from entirely new people.  And meet you could – I should extend the list above with other new people and companies I am now familiar with but that might be labouring the point too much and you can always ask me.

In discussions about the presentation quality one person did say he was a little disappointed at the flatness of some of the speakers.  I realised this might be because everything I attended was in English, which was perfect for my limited language skills.  However, giving a presentation in your native language does enable you to be more enthusiastic, charismatic and lively about your subject.  My ease of understanding from ubiquitous English may have also been the provider of flatness in some presentations?  Perhaps to make the point more, in my own presentation I was a little distracted for a while by someone in the technical booth at the back waving their hands.  Was I to stand closer to the mic, move away from the mic, point the slide controller elsewhere?  No, it was the translator following my presentation for non-English speakers.  In her native tongue, even though people did not see her and just heard her through a headset, she was lively and arm waving in her booth!  Next time perhaps a ‘native tongue only policy’ may make things even better?

The science presented?  Well very varied but very formulation orientated and you may hear of some from me over my next meetings as IF Ltd returns with even more knowledge and contacts to offer across many industry sectors.  Of course, if you want to know more the programme is on the NutrEvent web site and drop me an email or call to discuss what was raised.

Dr Graham Clayton

Graham.Clayton@IntelligentFormulation.org

Tel 07872 457038  

Every two years (apparently as this is my first) NutrEvent occurs to bring together industry, academics and others in the area of Nutrition and health. 

My impressions of day 1?

Well, it actually began the evening before with a reception at the Hospice Contesse in Lille - very nice venue and very good weather (raining back home!).  Despite being the evening before there were a good number of people in attendance and keen to network.  With only a few Brits present I again was left wondering if we just don't fully connect with our EU colleagues too frequently.

So to the actual day 1 and it all appeared to go very smoothly with a well planned and delivered event - well at least it appeared that way and if behind the scenes there was some frantic getting things together it didn't come across way so job well done!  Presentarions are provided in 2 streams and it is easy to switch between them to get the most out of the programme.  There is a small exhibition - worthwhile but not huge and centered around the coffee so good to see at breaks.

Partnering meetings are also on offer - easy to book and always a little bit of a gamble to see if the person you meet is worthwhile for future collaborations.  It's only 30 minutes each meeting though so worth investing the time.  My biggest dislike about such meetings though is the normally HUGE drop out rate.  If I get 50% attendance for planned meetings I have then I am normally happy.  Today though I had 6 meetings booked and 5 turned up, plus to be fair the 6th was a late entry meeting and so they may not have know it had been confirmed.  Is it that UK apathy again and the European keenness to network that makes a difference?  Not sure and one of my meetings was with a UK attendee, so maybe, maybe not. 

Another day characterised by few British at the event too.  What are we missing?  I recall going to a food event in Brugge last year and it had over 1700 attendees and to my knowledge there was myself and one other from the UK.  The event was very worth attending so why the lack of UK interest?  That event also started early and was a very full day.  Today was not too dissimilar with the event opening at 8:30 a.m. and people still there for awards and networking at 7:00 p.m.  I didn't have the stamminar for the 7:30 p.m. networking event but some did and may still be there now. (I am one of the speakers tomorrow so I need my rest!)

So lots to see, lots to hear, many to meet at a very well planned and delivered event.  Few fellow country wo/men and they are missing an opportunity, but (here comes the plug) Intelligent Formulation was there and we can discuss it with you.  Perhaps the connections made might be useful for you - drop us an email to find out stating your area of interest.  Despite it being billed as a nutrition and health event I heard numerous references to the personal care & pharma sectors to name only two.

Graham Clayton can be contacted via Graham.Clayton@IntelligentFormulation.org

FREE Interactive Seminar and Workshop

Learn how the latest characterisation techniques and instruments can help you:

• improve your formulated products
• optimise your formulation processes
• speed up your R&D projects

We are pleased to bring you further details of our upcoming Characterisation event, to be held at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield on 9^th May 2011.

To register, email info@intelligentformulation.org or call 01484 346 540

The event is designed to introduce you to the range of different characterisation methods in the marketplace, and to meet the manufacturers and suppliers of characterisation instrumentation and equipment. As well as meeting the manufacturers, the equipment will be at the event and live demonstrations will be taking place throughout the afternoon – you can even bring along a sample for a demonstration there and then!

There will also be brief presentations from companies who use this kind of equipment on a day to day basis – a chance to hear how the instrumentation is used in their formulation development, and the benefits the different characterisation methods bring to their company.

On top of this, our keynote speaker, Professor Paul Luckham, will review characterisation methods for formulation and talk about how these methods can be used in formulation development.

So, for the chance to see a number of characterisation methods and instruments in action on one day, register now. Companies in attendance include Anton-Paar, TA Instruments, Stable Microsystems, KRUSS, Meritics, Malvern Instruments, Micropore and Freeman Technology, with the very latest equipment including rheometers, advance NMR systems, density meters, texture analysers, particle sizers, powder characterisation instruments and surface tensiometers.

Please see the attached flyer for further details. To register, email info@intelligentformulation.org or call 01484 346 540

Click here to download:

Characterisation_9th_May_Flyer_small.pdf (444 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Characterisation_9th_May_Flyer_small.pdf (444 KB)

Or perhaps you would like to learn more about novel micro- and nano-particle size and characterisation techniques. These techniques have applications in product formulation, quality control and troubleshooting activities, and it’s important to understand the relative benefits of the various techniques available. Our partners at ParticlesCIC and NanoFactory are holding a sister event, entitled “Novel Micro-Nanoparticle Characterisation Techniques”, on Friday 1^st April 2011 at the University of Leeds. For further details of this event, see http://www.nanofactory.org.uk/index.php/events

We are please to announce the first in our upcoming series of ‘lunchtime webinars’: short sessions you can login to from your office computer over a lunchtime to gain some knowledge about a new technology, process, technique etc.

The first webinar is entitled “Visualising Faster and Better Formulations”, and will take place on 17^th March 2011 at 12:30pm, and will be free of charge. Please see the attached flyer for further details.  

To book your place, simply email info@intelligentformulation.org  

Click here to download:

Webinar_Flyer.pdf (491 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Webinar_Flyer.pdf (491 KB)